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Former SDSU Student Sentenced To Prison

BROOKINGS,S.D. (AP) — A former South Dakota State University student has been sentenced to eight years in prison with four of them suspended after pleading guilty to one count of intentionally exposing another person to the virus that causes AIDS.

Nineteen-year-old Demetrius Colaites was sentenced on Tuesday.

Colaites in January admitted to not using a condom during consensual sex with another student who did not know Colaites is HIV-positive. Prosecutors dropped other charges against Colaites as part of a plea deal.

Various news outlets have reported that Colaites has had the virus his entire life.

Colaites’ attorney says South Dakota laws unfairly treat the few hundred people in the state who are HIV-positive. He says people from across the country reached out to his client to show their support.